


And You're A Part of Me

by DaintyDuck_99



Series: JatP Hogwarts AU [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hufflepuff Reggie Peters, M/M, Pre-Slash, Protective Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Peters Has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Peters Has Braces, Reggie Peters is Good With Animals, Slytherin Luke Patterson, They're 11 so Reggie just thinks Luke is REALLY neat, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 08:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30086421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaintyDuck_99/pseuds/DaintyDuck_99
Summary: “Looks like a hatstall, since the hat is taking more than five minutes to decide on where to sort him. They’re really rare.”The headmaster calls for silence. A few torturous minutes later, the hat finally bellows—SLYTHERIN!Apparently, this sort of rarity isn’t a good thing, Reggie realizes with a sinking feeling as hardly any applause erupts for Luke.Or: Luke gets shunned after being a hatstall, and Reggie is determined to be his friend. He has a plan that ends up involving a lot of toast, the giant squid, and even his braces, but it all works out in the end.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Peters & The Giant Squid
Series: JatP Hogwarts AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2213745
Comments: 18
Kudos: 52





	And You're A Part of Me

**Author's Note:**

> All of the love to [goodluckgettingtosleep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodluckgettingtosleep/pseuds/goodluckgettingtosleep) for taking the time to beta this and listen to me ranting about it <3

Walking into Hogwarts is like entering a Salvador Dali painting, only prettier and less bizarre. 

It’s possible to guess who already knows about magic and who doesn’t based on how people react, which is kind of interesting. The tall boy that’d helped Reggie unload his trunk—Alex, Reggie thinks his name was—halts in his tracks, and someone has to poke him in the back. 

Once they’re lead up to the Great Hall and forced to stand around, Reggie bounces on his toes until a curly-haired girl glares at him. He has to do something—waiting to be sorted is nerve-wracking. Reggie reaches for his necklace. 

Alex ends up getting into Ravenclaw, and Reggie claps for him silently. 

Any minute now, they’ll call Reggie’s name, and he can get back to focusing on the exciting parts about having magic. 

Except the names stop coming after they call for PATTERSON, LUCAS. 

“My name is Luke,” the boy had objected half-heartedly, but he’d walked up to the stool, and there he sat under the grizzled, too-large hat for what felt like hours.

After a while, muttering and whispers start to fill the hall. Most of the other first-years seem to be just as confused as Reggie. 

“What’s happening?” he asks, and a dark-haired boy leans around the glaring girl.

“Looks like a hatstall,” they whisper back, “since the hat is taking more than five minutes to decide on where to sort him. They’re really rare.” 

The headmaster calls for silence. A few torturous minutes later, the hat finally bellows— 

SLYTHERIN! 

Apparently, this sort of rarity isn’t a good thing, Reggie realizes with a sinking feeling as hardly any applause erupts for Luke. Most of it comes from the teacher’s table and the Hufflepuff area. Luke’s house is projecting an eerie silence, and no one interacts with him as he sits.

It’s dumb—Reggie doesn’t even know Luke, but he feels guilty. 

Reggie’s house accepts him readily, probably because most Hufflepuffs exude kindness in a way that promises comfort, like a warm bed or Christmas cookies. 

They don’t have many classes together, but from what Reggie sees during their first week, Slytherin is still treating Luke like some sort of traitor, wrapping him in loud swaths of silence and spitting venom behind his back. 

He didn’t even do anything! It’s not his fault that some old sentient hat took forever. 

Besides, shouldn’t it be a good thing? How many people are interesting enough to stump the sorting hat if it only happens like, twice a century? 

Maybe it’s not dumb, Reggie decides—it’s an injustice. If Luke is as awesome as Reggie suspects he is, then Reggie is going to be the best friend he’s ever had. 

The next morning, Reggie spies Luke slipping out of the Great Hall at the start of breakfast. 

Before he can change his mind, he tugs at his Prefect’s sleeve and annunciates as best he can around the metal in his mouth. 

“How much do you guys like toast, exactly?” 

She beams at him, bright enough to see right through him, and Reggie finds himself waddling towards the lake with the Hufflepuff table’s entire supply of toast and an assortment of spreads.

He’s so relieved when he spots Luke lounging beneath a tree that he almost collapses against it.

“Hi,” he gasps, still fumbling with his peace offering. 

Luke startles, snatching the parchment in his lap and holding it close to his chest. 

“Hello,” he replies cautiously, voice muffled by the quill stuffed in his mouth. 

Reggie fixes his eyes on the mountain of toast as he places it on the ground, partially to keep it steady and partially for screwing up already. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean—if you’re writing a letter or something, you probably want to be alone. It just looked like you didn’t have breakfast, and I’ve been meaning to get to know you, so. I uh, hope you’re not allergic to gluten.” 

Luke laughs, but not in a mean way. It’s short and wild like the ripple of a merperson’s tail, undignified and lovely and real. 

He must’ve taken the quill out of his mouth, too, or it fell out when he laughed, so that’s probably a good sign. Reggie takes a slice of toast from the top of the pile.

“Is all of this for me, or are you also trying to befriend an army of giant squids?” Luke teases. 

Reggie smiles as he examines their selection of spreads, settling for one that looks like some kind of blue marmite. 

“Well, I’d have to ask Hagrid if—” 

He catches Luke’s eyes for the first time and falters. 

They’re beautiful, blazing with veins of amber and blue calcite in a bed of deep green. Of course the boy with enough personality to baffle the sorting hat would have the most fascinating irises. 

“If?” Luke prompts, and Reggie tears his gaze away, cheeks decidedly warm.

“You know, if the Giant Squid should even eat bread. It might be bad for them,” he finishes. 

A tentacle slaps the surface of the water from the middle of the lake. 

Luke presses his back as close to the trunk of the tree as he can, slipping the parchment into his robes, but Reggie just shakes his head. 

“Someone’s cranky,” he chides, scooping up about two-thirds of the bread mound as he stands. 

“Don’t insult it!” Luke hisses, tugging at the bottom of Reggie’s robe, “What’re you doing?” 

“Trust me,” Reggie murmurs, and Luke let’s go.

“You’ve gotten wise though, haven’t you?” Reggie calls as he approaches the edge of the lake.

He starts chucking pieces of toast over the water in as many ways as he can think to throw them: like skipping stones, straight up, frisbee style, even into the lake. 

A flurry of tentacles snatch every single bit of bread before it can get more than damp, and a large head rises from the water to pop them all into the squid’s beak. One large eye rolls to fix itself on Reggie.

“I hope you enjoyed that game,” he says softly. 

Another tentacle emerges in front of him, hovering, and then it slides over the top of his head like a clumsy hand, sending him staggering back and soaking his hair before the squid descends.

Reggie chuckles, wiping his face dry as he returns to Luke.

The other boy gapes at him.

“Did—did the Giant Squid just pet you?”

“I think so,” Reggie admits, “I know you were joking, but I’m pretty sure they like me now.”

Luke studies him for another moment, eyes wide, until a grin breaks out across his face. 

He gets up with his hands out, and Reggie thinks he’s going for a handshake, but once he approaches, he pulls Reggie into a headlock, scrubbing at his wet hair.

“There’s never a dull moment with you around, huh?” 

“Stop, stop!” Reggie protests, but the laughter laced in the command betrays him.

Reggie’s still grinning when Luke releases him, and Luke gasps. 

His hands fly up to cover his mouth, but he’s realized his mistake too late.

“Dude, why are your teeth all shiny?” Luke inquires, peering at Reggie like he has X-ray vision.

“My mom made me get braces,” Reggie mumbles through his hands.

Luke wraps his fingers around Reggie’s wrists, but he doesn’t pull.

“I can’t understand you when you talk like that,” he coaxes, “It’s okay, I’m only curious.” 

Reggie exhales slowly, searching Luke’s gaze for a hint of insincerity. Finding none, he starts to lower his hands, allowing Luke to bring them away from his face.

“They’re braces,” Reggie repeats, “It’s a muggle thing. The wires force your teeth to straighten out after a couple of years, then they take them off. She doesn’t like relying on magic.” 

“You don’t have to justify why you have them,” Luke responds, squeezing Reggie’s wrists before he releases them.

“You’d be the first wizarding kid I’ve met who thinks that. If I wasn’t in Hufflepuff, where everyone is so kind, I’d probably be getting hexed or beat up constantly. I know most wizards think it’s odd.” 

“Well, I think they’re cool,” Luke announces, face scrunched like he’ll fight anyone who says otherwise, including Reggie. 

“I mean, choosing to adorn yourself with metal? Even if your mom made you do it, you had to sit through the procedure and stuff, and it sounds painful. That’s badass!” he continues. 

“It does actually sound pretty cool when you put it like that,” Reggie concedes, “thanks, Luke.”

Luke smirks. Reggie wonders if the Giant Squid will drown him if he asks them to, because it’s got to be totally weird that he remembered Luke’s name, right? 

“You’re welcome,” Luke pauses, and Reggie is actually dying— 

“Reginald.” 

Oh. Oh! So Luke does know who he is.

Reggie’s face is on fire again. He fiddles with the hem of his sleeve.

“Most people call me Reggie, actually,” he amends.

“Reg?” Luke tries.

“You’re nicknaming my nickname?” 

Luke shrugs. “I’m not ‘most people.’”

Reggie rewards him with another real smile, braces proudly on display, and not even Filch’s bellowing threats of detention are enough to dim his spirit.

 _I guess you aren’t_ , Reggie thinks as they start to run back towards the castle, which quickly becomes a race, _not to me_.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Mom, 

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. Please don’t worry about me, though! They don’t let us use magic for everything—I still have to do homework, and shower, and all of that stuff. 

I’ve been sorted into the Hufflepuff house. The others don’t take us too seriously, but that’s okay. Apparently that means I’m loyal and hardworking, how about that? All of my housemates are really nice. They don’t make fun of my braces, but some people do. Luke always makes them back off, though. 

Oh yeah, I made some friends! Luke is really cool. He stumped the sorting hat, which only happens once or twice every 100 years! It put him in Slytherin, which is the ambitious lot, but he easily could’ve been in Gryffindor, too. They’re basically the brave ones. He introduced me to a few Gryffindors, Julie and Flynn. They’ve defended me too, and I wouldn’t want to cross them.

I have a lot of classes with Alex, who’s in Ravenclaw (the smart house). You’d love him—he helps me with Potions, so I haven’t blown anything up. 

Could I spend the holidays with Luke’s family instead of going to see Dad? The Pattersons seem really invested in Christmas, and we both know Dad’ll forget I’m even there if I do stay with him. I’ll come see you on Christmas Eve, of course. Could I bring Luke?

Love,

Reggie 


End file.
